Chet Gresham

Last Minute Decisions

Injury Questions: Week 7

Welcome to Week 7 of the National Football League fantasy division. Stay tuned to the Rotoworld News Page for all the pertinent actives and inactives and also check out our live blog which I’ll be live blogging starting an hour before kickoff.

We also have rankings from Mr. Pat Daugherty, Nick Mensio’s sleeper picks, my AFC and NFC Targets and Touches and Evan Silva's detailed look at every game in his Matchup Column. So click on all of those and read them word for word and I'll quiz you when you get back.

Editor's Note: Rotoworld's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-week $30,000 Fantasy Football league for Week 7. It's just $10 to join and first prize is $4,000. Starts Sunday at 1pm ET. Here's the link.

* Calvin Johnson (knee) practiced all week and is listed as probable. He is an elite start again.

* Joique Bell (ribs) was limited in practice and is listed as questionable. He will probably play, but Theo Riddick could see a few more snaps this week.

* Theo Riddick (concussion) returned to practice and is listed as questionable. He is two weeks removed from his concussion and practicing. It looks like he will go.

* Tony Scheffler (concussion) didn’t practice this week and is out. Joseph Fauria will continue to see more snaps with him out, but his 26 last week still isn’t enough to play him safely, even with his amazing touchdown percentage.

4PM GAMES

49ers at Titans

* Jake Locker (hip) practiced and is listed as questionable, but NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports the Titans expect Locker to start against the 49ers.

* Shonn Greene (knee) practiced all week and is listed as questionable, but looks ready to take back the short yardage/goal line work from Jackie Battle.

* Vernon Davis (hamstring) practiced all week and is coming off a 180 yard, two-touchdown game. I think he’s okay.

* LaRon Landry (ankle) will return this week. His tackling ability is his forte so Knowshon Moreno will feel the biggest brunt of his return.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Vikings at Giants

* Adrian Peterson (hamstring) didn't practice Friday, but there's no reason to believe he won't be able to play on Monday night.

* Blair Walsh (hamstring) was limited in practice Friday, but played through the same injury last week. As long as the Vikings don’t sign another kicker he will play.

* Brandon Jacobs (hamstring) was limited, but practiced Thursday and Friday and looks set to be the lead back on Monday night.

Matchup To Stack

Dallas at Philadelphia

The over/under for this game is 55 points and the way these two defenses have been playing, I see no reason they can’t top that number. And even though the Eagles run the ball by default, they do it at such a pace as to not kill the other team’s time of possession. They are actually 30th in time of possession with 26.22 minutes a game, while fourth in points scored per game with 27.7. Dallas is second in the league with 30.5 points scored per game and should have around 33 minutes to put those points up against a very poor passing defense.

The Eagles, partly due to the time of possession gap and a lot to do with the talent gap, are struggling mightily against opposing quarterbacks and receivers. Just last week they faced rookie Mike Glennon sans Mike Williams and he threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns on 43 pass attempts. One thing you will notice when looking at the Eagles’ opposing quarterbacks is the amount of passes they throw. If you play the Eagles, they will score on you and they will give you plenty of chances to throw on their weak pass defense. Opposing teams are averaging 44 pass attempts against them, the highest in the league. In Week 5, Eli Manning threw 52 times. He was awful, but he still threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns. On the season they are allowing 327.5 passing yards and 2.33 touchdowns per game. Amazingly, each receiving touchdown they’ve allowed is to a wide receiver, the most in the league against wide receivers.

The Eagles run defense, as you would expect, is a little better than their pass defense. Teams have to keep up with Philadelphia in scoring and their secondary and pass rush (26th in sacks) are lacking. So offenses are usually compelled to throw the ball, which keeps the run defense from being blitzkrieged over and over again. There will be plenty of passing and with DeMarco Murray out, it will give Tony Romo even more reason to throw the ball. That leaves Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams as prime candidates for huge games, while Miles Austin most likely will take a back seat after missing two practices this week and not looking anywhere near 100% in his return to the field. Jason Witten is of course a must start, but the Eagles are one of five teams to not allow a touchdown to a tight end this season.

On the other side of the ball the Cowboys’ defense hasn’t been that much better. Whereas the Eagles are giving up a league high 420.2 yards a game, the Cowboys give up the third most at 413.2 yards per game. Most of that yardage has come through the air. They have actually given up more passing yards per game than the Eagles with 329 and one more receiving touchdowns with 14. But unlike Philadelphia, Dallas has been a little more liberal with who they allow to score touchdowns. They have given up seven to opposing wide receivers, four to tight ends and three to running backs. That’s a nice equal opportunity porous defense.

And the Cowboys, who started off pretty stingy against the run, have sprung some leaks lately against Knowshon Moreno and Alfred Morris. And they also haven’t been too adept at stopping running backs from catching the ball, having given up 49 receptions, 407 yards and those aforementioned three touchdowns, all ranking them the worst in the league in each category. And now the Cowboys are without DeMarcus Ware who ranked seventh against the run in Pro Football Focus grading. The Eagles should have no trouble running and passing with LeSean McCoy, which will set up DeSean Jackson for some easy gainers. And now that Zach Ertz is getting more playing time and targets, there’s no reason to think he can’t do something against a team giving up 7.5 receptions per game to tight ends, the most in the league.

Welcome to Week 7 of the National Football League fantasy division. Stay tuned to the Rotoworld News Page for all the pertinent actives and inactives and also check out our live blog which I’ll be live blogging starting an hour before kickoff.

We also have rankings from Mr. Pat Daugherty, Nick Mensio’s sleeper picks, my AFC and NFC Targets and Touches and Evan Silva's detailed look at every game in his Matchup Column. So click on all of those and read them word for word and I'll quiz you when you get back.

Editor's Note: Rotoworld's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-week $30,000 Fantasy Football league for Week 7. It's just $10 to join and first prize is $4,000. Starts Sunday at 1pm ET. Here's the link.

* Calvin Johnson (knee) practiced all week and is listed as probable. He is an elite start again.

* Joique Bell (ribs) was limited in practice and is listed as questionable. He will probably play, but Theo Riddick could see a few more snaps this week.

* Theo Riddick (concussion) returned to practice and is listed as questionable. He is two weeks removed from his concussion and practicing. It looks like he will go.

* Tony Scheffler (concussion) didn’t practice this week and is out. Joseph Fauria will continue to see more snaps with him out, but his 26 last week still isn’t enough to play him safely, even with his amazing touchdown percentage.

4PM GAMES

49ers at Titans

* Jake Locker (hip) practiced and is listed as questionable, but NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports the Titans expect Locker to start against the 49ers.

* Shonn Greene (knee) practiced all week and is listed as questionable, but looks ready to take back the short yardage/goal line work from Jackie Battle.

* Vernon Davis (hamstring) practiced all week and is coming off a 180 yard, two-touchdown game. I think he’s okay.

* LaRon Landry (ankle) will return this week. His tackling ability is his forte so Knowshon Moreno will feel the biggest brunt of his return.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Vikings at Giants

* Adrian Peterson (hamstring) didn't practice Friday, but there's no reason to believe he won't be able to play on Monday night.

* Blair Walsh (hamstring) was limited in practice Friday, but played through the same injury last week. As long as the Vikings don’t sign another kicker he will play.

* Brandon Jacobs (hamstring) was limited, but practiced Thursday and Friday and looks set to be the lead back on Monday night.

Matchup To Stack

Dallas at Philadelphia

The over/under for this game is 55 points and the way these two defenses have been playing, I see no reason they can’t top that number. And even though the Eagles run the ball by default, they do it at such a pace as to not kill the other team’s time of possession. They are actually 30th in time of possession with 26.22 minutes a game, while fourth in points scored per game with 27.7. Dallas is second in the league with 30.5 points scored per game and should have around 33 minutes to put those points up against a very poor passing defense.

The Eagles, partly due to the time of possession gap and a lot to do with the talent gap, are struggling mightily against opposing quarterbacks and receivers. Just last week they faced rookie Mike Glennon sans Mike Williams and he threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns on 43 pass attempts. One thing you will notice when looking at the Eagles’ opposing quarterbacks is the amount of passes they throw. If you play the Eagles, they will score on you and they will give you plenty of chances to throw on their weak pass defense. Opposing teams are averaging 44 pass attempts against them, the highest in the league. In Week 5, Eli Manning threw 52 times. He was awful, but he still threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns. On the season they are allowing 327.5 passing yards and 2.33 touchdowns per game. Amazingly, each receiving touchdown they’ve allowed is to a wide receiver, the most in the league against wide receivers.

The Eagles run defense, as you would expect, is a little better than their pass defense. Teams have to keep up with Philadelphia in scoring and their secondary and pass rush (26th in sacks) are lacking. So offenses are usually compelled to throw the ball, which keeps the run defense from being blitzkrieged over and over again. There will be plenty of passing and with DeMarco Murray out, it will give Tony Romo even more reason to throw the ball. That leaves Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams as prime candidates for huge games, while Miles Austin most likely will take a back seat after missing two practices this week and not looking anywhere near 100% in his return to the field. Jason Witten is of course a must start, but the Eagles are one of five teams to not allow a touchdown to a tight end this season.

On the other side of the ball the Cowboys’ defense hasn’t been that much better. Whereas the Eagles are giving up a league high 420.2 yards a game, the Cowboys give up the third most at 413.2 yards per game. Most of that yardage has come through the air. They have actually given up more passing yards per game than the Eagles with 329 and one more receiving touchdowns with 14. But unlike Philadelphia, Dallas has been a little more liberal with who they allow to score touchdowns. They have given up seven to opposing wide receivers, four to tight ends and three to running backs. That’s a nice equal opportunity porous defense.

And the Cowboys, who started off pretty stingy against the run, have sprung some leaks lately against Knowshon Moreno and Alfred Morris. And they also haven’t been too adept at stopping running backs from catching the ball, having given up 49 receptions, 407 yards and those aforementioned three touchdowns, all ranking them the worst in the league in each category. And now the Cowboys are without DeMarcus Ware who ranked seventh against the run in Pro Football Focus grading. The Eagles should have no trouble running and passing with LeSean McCoy, which will set up DeSean Jackson for some easy gainers. And now that Zach Ertz is getting more playing time and targets, there’s no reason to think he can’t do something against a team giving up 7.5 receptions per game to tight ends, the most in the league.